Cathie from Canada

"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Blog, blog against the dying of the light"

Thursday, September 30, 2004

What can you do in five minutes?

After Bush was told "America is under attack" on 9/11. he spent the next five minutes or more sitting and flipping through My Pet Goat.
Now, in five minutes, I can sweep the kitchen floor, or mix up a cake mix, or fold a load of laundry. I can run across the street to help a boy who fell off his bike, or bandage my daughter's bloody knee, or remove a sliver from my son's finger. I can deal with a phone call at work, or type up an email, or proofread a poster.
So what's the explanation for why Bush took five minutes to do anything on 9/11?
When FOXNews ballyhooed that O'Reilly was going to ask him the big question about why he just sat there, I just had to check to see what his answer was:
"O'REILLY: One of the big propaganda things against you is the classroom in Florida after 9/11 when Andrew Card came in and whispered in your ear. . . . Let's clear this up once and for all. What were you thinking?
BUSH: I was thinking America was under attack, I was collecting my thoughts, and I wasn't about to panic a bunch of kids. And the program was winding down, I waited for the end of the program, I excused myself and I went to action. And what the American people will judge me on is whether or not I handled that crisis, in a way that lets them know that, that I'll lead in this war on terror, that's what they need to look at, and I think they are looking at it that way."
So I guess he only appeared to be stunned and speechless, frozen with fear, unable to move, needing someone to tell him what to do. Actually, he was 'collecting his thoughts' -- they must have been pretty scattered, eh?